UCDSB high school teachers to strike Wednesday

A series of walkouts is planned this week and next at every local high school in the area.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) announced teachers in select school boards, including the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB), will take part in another one-day, full withdrawal of services on Wednesday.

All classes at the secondary level at UCDSB will be cancelled as a result, and there will be no planned activities, co-op placements, dual-credit programs, or extra-curriculars for students in Grades 9 through 12.

The board also says there will be no classes for students in specialized programs (Successful Destination Program [SDP], Alternative Behaviour Learning Environment [ABLE], Transitions or Foundations) in Grades 7 through 12.

Community use programs and child care operations will not be affected, the board added.

The walkout on Wednesday will affect students only in Grade 9 through 12 at Thousand Islands Secondary School and Brockville Collegiate Institute; regular classes for students in Kindergarten to Grade 8 will proceed as usual, even if students in Grade 7 and Grade 8 are in a secondary school, the board said.

The city’s K-12 French Catholic school, Académiecatholique Ange-Gabriel, said it will close its doors on Wednesday to all students.

Classes will resume on Jan. 16, as normal.

Brockville’s other high school – St. Mary Catholic High School – will not be affected by the Wednesday walkout as its teachers are represented by Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) and not a part of this particular work action.

That’s not to say they’re out of the woods; OECTA informed the government on Monday afternoon that its members will also hold a one-day, provincewide full walkout on Tuesday, Jan. 21.

The issues causing a stalemate between the province and the several unions at play are plentiful.

OSSTF says the government’s unwillingness to bend on issues like larger class sizes, mandatory e-learning, and the “ongoing erosion of crucial supports and services (for) our most vulnerable students” is driving its members to take a stand.

“The Minister of Education continues to peddle the false narrative that this dispute is about compensation,” said OSSTF/FEESO President Harvey Bischof in a statement.

“And yet, when we offered to call off our most recent job action in exchange for class size and staffing guarantees – issues entirely unrelated to compensation –the Ford government chose to reject that offer rather than keep students in classrooms.”

The strike on Wednesday will mark the second full-scale walkout at the secondary level since the OSSTF began a limited withdrawal of services on Nov. 26.

High school teachers across the province, including in Brockville, walked out on Dec. 4.

The union has since held rotating walkouts a handful of times in select school boards in Ontario, but this is the first time local schools have been hit since the December walkout.

Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, said in a statement this week that the “continued strike action is unfair to students and their families.”

“For the fifth time, OSSTF union leaders have directed their members to not show up to class. These union leaders will forcefully advocate for the interests of their members – from higher wages to enhanced entitlements – however, they ought not oppose the academic aspirations of our students,” Lecce said in a written statement.

“Students should be in class. It is most concerning that teacher unions’ leaders disagree and continue to impede learning for the next generation. Our government is focused on landing deals that keep students in class so that we end the frustrating experience families face due to predictable union escalation.”

The aforementioned unions are not the only ones in stalled talks with the province. The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), whose teachers have been participating in work-to-rule strike action since Nov. 26, is no longer supervising extra-curricular activities or participating in field trips.

The union also announced if it can’t reach a deal before Jan. 17, teachers will “commence a full withdrawal of services strike on a rotating basis” beginning Jan. 20.

The UCDSB said in the event of a one-day strike by ETFO members, there will be no classes for students in Kindergarten to Grade 8 on that day, thus encouraging parents to “look at child care options as a precaution.”